FG to train Niger Delta youths on agriculture and construction

 As parts of efforts to combat unemployment and youth restiveness in the Niger Delta region, the federal government has promised to complete a skills training centre in Rivers state to train youths in agriculture and construction.

Senator Chris Ngige, Minister of Labour and Employment, stated this in Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State while inspecting the NDE Skills Centre located on the outskirts of Port Harcourt, the State capital.

He said that the social safety net programmes were part of the palliatives under the 2016 budget designed to create jobs and enhance wealth creation for the poor and the unemployed.

This was contained in a statement on Wednesday by Barr. Nnamdi Asomugha, the NDE River State Coordinator.

“The construction of this skills centre began about 10 years ago and was nearly 90 per cent completed before it was abandoned. The centre has also been vandalised twice because of the insecurity in the area. But I shall see to its completion and training of the unskilled youths in the area of agriculture and construction,” he said.

The minister, who had defied the security threat on the East-West Road to visit the complex, said that he had decided to take the risk by visiting the centre to demonstrate the determination of President Buhari’s administration to addressing the problems of the Niger Delta region.

He said, “You can see that I am the first Minister to visit this centre and I intend to complete it and put it into effective use.

Ngige further assured that the Federal Government would implement its massive job creation programmes across the country especially in agriculture and technical trades.

Earlier Barr. Nnamdi Asomugha, the State Coordinator of the NDE in Rivers State, who conducted the Minister round the skills centre said that the Directorate has begun the resettlement of beneficiaries of the programme in Rivers State.

“The NDE policy is now geared towards training and resettlement in order to create small-scale businesses, boost wealth creation and job creation,” he said.

Mr. Asomugha explained that already the first batch of 50 youths trained in commercial agricultural farming have received a loan package of N150,000.00 each to go into farming and fishery, adding that the second batch would be resettled soon.

The NDE coordinator also said that a group of youths trained under the community-based training scheme would soon receive a loan package of N2.5 million.

The NDE Emohua skills centre is designed to impact vocational trades under the Directorate’s Vocational Skills Development (VSD) programme.

It has two hostels, one each for the male and female trainees. The centre also has an administrative block, workshops, block of classrooms for entrepreneurship training, a borehole among others.